Savoir Faire

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Last night was the Savoir Faire premiere at Jester's in Bristol. The video was really good - amazing skating by Div Adam, Stephen Roe, Dave Snaddon, John Tanner and Chris Oliver - and really well put together by Toby Bachelor, Alex Irvine, Paul Sylvester, Ciaran O Connor, Morph and Kev Parrott. Ciaran's motion graphics were top-notch and really add a bit of snazz-o. Props also to Ciaran for stumping up for the event out of his own pocket. It was a good night out - support videos from James Guthrie etc. Guth's video was full of amazing skating too. Power. Loads of Bristol skaters and a lot of heads from the Sidewalk Forum. I've posted up Chris Oliver's teaser trailer, as his was the stand-out section for me. Click for more info on Savoir Faire's blog.

10 Minutes in a Fullpipe...

You wait almost 23 years to skate a fullpipe, get about 3 runs each, then get kicked out.

Iced Coff-o! Pann-o!

The weather's getting nice 'n hot - so it's time to break out the iced coffees! Plus a nice little pain au chocolat from the veggie bakers to complement the aisu-kohi, of course...

Skate Spots on the LOPE Radar - Rough Little Banks Edition

Me and Wes went for a skate last night. As usual it started raining so we went to check out progress on Horfield skatepark.

The rain slowed a bit, so we decided to check a spot I'd scoped a year or so back, but never investigated. Anyway as we approached, it started to look better than I remembered it. We drove round the corner to check another spot - a rough-as-a-badger gap (not great!), then back round to the little banks.

They're pretty good - a bit dark to skate at night - but no hassle from the locals! Rough-ass concrete, but goes all the way down as you can see in the pic and also all the way round the other direction, but too dark to skate there and nearer people's houses too. Anyway, I think we'll have to get a few sessions in here!

Skate Spots on the LOPE Radar 2 - Ice Cream Edition

Here's the new spot in Bristol. It's "skateable architecture" according to Wes's conversation with the architect - I like that kind of right-on attitude! It does actually feel like a street spot rather than a skatepark.

As usual, awful photo as I took it on my phone and didn't think to get a pic until dusk was turning to night.

The "ice cream scoop" bowl is a bit mad. Expect people will be ollieing over it soon. Ollie over to disaster or grind would be nice. Tim set his Salman Agah approved block at the top of the bank and the Warden and the Wezzer were whizzing wonderous whooshers down into the bank.

Horfield Skatepark Construction

Just checked the progress on Horfield's new Bendcrete skatepark.

Looks like a fair bit of work still to be done and is shaping up a bit meh to be honest. Although not as meh as it looked on the plans. Floodlit too. Fingers crossed 11pm. 10pm? Please?

Looks like half of it is a BMX volcano version of a spine ramp and the other half is a downhill round-the-corner skateboard ledge extravaganza.

More discussions on the Sidewalk forum.

Helvetica

Finally got round to watching Gary Hustwit's amazing Helvetica documentary last night. It was great!

Any film featuring Wim Crouwel, Herman Zapf, Neville Brody and David Carson is OK with me! Did I mention I met David Carson and chatted about the amusing font Hobo? No?

The documentary reminded me a bit of a typographical version of Dogtown & Z-Boys.

Oh - Die Neue Haas Grotesk was the original name for Helvetica. The original was based on Akzidenz Grotesk, and was designed by Max Miedinger for the Haas Type Foundry in the 50s. Even those who are peeved by the overabundance of Helv these days can't deny it's a classic!

Lack of...

I haven't updated this thing for a year?

Anyway - it now seems to be working OK - updated it to my GMail account etc. Getting behind the times. Maybe I'll retrospectively update it (cheat).

Ha ha! Cheeky bugger - I've retrospectively added The Ripped trip. Maybe more to come...

The Ripped Skatepark

The Ripped rules! Here's a video from my Youzetubes of Joe Habgood, Bobbinogs, Joxa, Wes, Ronny Calow, Gnarly Neil, Scott, Johnners (virtually invisible due to camera dodging) and me skating The Ripped skatepark. Concrete coping all round and a really interesting layout. Even the dodgy bits are quirky rather than crap. Joe's gnarly stunts - nose picks etc on a 4ft high ledge up and over the platform and Joxa's wallride rock fakie were highlights of a bloody good day's skate. 3 1/2 hours drive up and 4 1/2 back were worth it.

Skate Spots on the LOPE Radar

A sunken fullpipe... I'd heard about a skateable "pond" at Blaise Castle, and about 2 years ago I had a look to see if it was still there. There's a museum inside the big old house and inside was an aerial photo which showed what looked like a little blue paddling pool, next to the house. It wasn't there any more - I asked a security guard who said "Yeah - they filled that in a few years back, guvnor". I thought that was the end of the story. Anyway, we went for a walk up there on the weekend and I was strolling down a hill, when suddenly I saw a section of transitioned concrete! As I got closer I realised it actually was quite large and looked alright! So, here's some pics I took on my camera phone. You can see that even on a cold, rainy January day, after a week of torrential rain, there's actually a dry patch! Could be promising for the summer! I did notice that the pond is fed from a sluice gate a bit higher up - so I suppose if that is opened in the summer the whold thing could be full of water?

Finally Nailing it...

As it's Christmas I've brought the old cappuccino machine into work for some quality coffe. I think I'm finally getting the hang of creating a near-perfect cappuccino! My old problem was worrying too much about scalding the milk. I now steam & froth it for much longer than I used to, and add a bit more milk than I used to - so it's not so bitter! Maybe I overdid it a bit with the cinammon on the pic, eh?

Mii

Check out my "Mii" - which is a personalized character creator for the Nintendo Wii, out in the UK on the 8th December. Although this was actually made on a Flash version, from the Joystiq website. It looks pretty much like me! You can create your own Mii at: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/02/roll-your-own-mii-pre-wii/

The Pool Video Edit

Here's a quick edit of the Hell Tour pool session. Super slippery mosaic tile surface makes it difficult to skate! Luckily Neil has a nice selection of old wheels! I borrowed some yellow Rat Bones and Neil was using Kryptonics! Wes was skating a big old board with "filmer's wheels"! Rat Bones!

Jam's Pool Edit

Jam made this edit from some pics he took - and took the opportunity to cheese it up with some lovely transitions!

Woodcock's Ankle (Video)

Here's the classic Woodcock ankle from the original "All the Lope" video, circa 1993? Now I've got this video-blog VLOGGING lark sussed I can put up some teasers for the all-new LOPE 2!

Skating at Bedminster Skatepark (DLH - Dean Lane Hardcore).

Witty as a Vid Tester

Chuffed!

Got home from work yesterday to discover a package from the BBC... Inside was the new Trojan "Original Riddims" and Damian Marley CDs! I'd won the competition on the Mark Lamarr Reggae Show on Radio 2! The riddims CD is amazing - especially Johnny Clarke's "Everyday Wondering", which is the original riddim which Rupie Edwards' "Ire Feelings" was cut to. Anyway - summit for nuttin is always nice!

West Somerset Railway

A bit of Dibnah stylee! Went down to Dunster Castle for a cream tea and had a trip on the WSR Steam Train. It was niceness and Ella loved it - "CHOO - CHOO!". Also - check out mi mug! My mum bought me it as a birthday present - it entitles me to free cuppaz on the train. Fred Dibnah would be proud!

Vandalised Skatespot! (Knobbled)

Me & Jam went out to the underpass near Bath, hoping the slippery ooze that had been applied a few years back may have "dried up". Unfortunately it now has a more effective means of skate-stopping! But, why? I can't understand why anyone could want to do this? Aaaargh!

The New Arrival

Here's a picture of Reina when she was 5 days old. Reina is a Japanese/Spanish name - we weren't even absolutely sure what we were gonna call her for a few days. She's doing really well - chugging away on her milk and putting on loads of weight. I'll probably put up some more pics soon - the quality of this isn't brilliant as it was taken on my phone.

Ozzy Update

Here's an update from our man in the 'Dam - Ozcabs 90... "This was a photo taken this weekend in a restaurant in Amsterdam. The name of the restaurant is called "Hemelse Modder" which means heavenly mud. The boys had come over as moral support for our lad Craig, the BMX bandit. Craig put in a good performance with a no-handed backflip but was unfortunately knocked out by a bandit from Berlin who pulled off a front flip. The photo shows us in good spirits as we eat delicious food and drink fine wines. As you can see, there is double thumbs-up all round. The Beef Wellington tasted slighted of liver."

A New Member for the T.O.C?

Looks like there could be a new member for the T.O.C. (Turn Out Club International). Had this pic sent to me from a new recruit hailing from Swindon. I'll keep his identity secret for now - let's just say his name is the opposite of Short-hurst... 3 other good things from Swindon: 1. Gilbert O' Sullivan 2. "The Magic Roundabout" ( http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm) 3. XTC? Or maybe Mark Lamarr?

Stoke Plaza - Another Pic

Tim - frontside noseslide at Stoke Plaza Or should that be "front-nose" in today's skate-speak? This was the last photo of the day...

Woodcock's Ankle

Click for larger image Woody on Bedminster bank in the 90s - from the original "All the Lope". The best frames are frame 9 - which is the real action! and frame 12 - Jam looking on in pity.

+++ Oz ViDz PoN NuFf GaDgEtZ +++

Oz's Edit Preview on Sony W550i and Snowboarding '06 video on the PSP Our man in Amsterdam (OzCabs 90) has been sending me some nice edits lately. So, now I'm stickin' 'em on me gadgets. I've got Oz's teaser trailer of the new improved Edict of Nantes (“The Edit”) saved as a tiddly 3GP file, and an Edit of the Austria snowboarding trip on my PSP. You may notice Seward's fisheye-distorted mug at Patchway BMX track (the Tumps) and Woodcock failing to bend ze knees (apparently wearing bright green Patagonia trousers like the old days? Alan? Heli? Kronee?).